Land of Big Numbers

This book was my favorite read last year. Ms. Chen writes excellent short stories, and this book contains ten of them. They are all fascinating, leaving the reader hungry for more.

Further, each of these stories reveals something interesting and worth knowing about life in the People's Republic of China. Ms. Chen has created some wonderful metaphors to aid her in describing that life. These metaphors not only provide insight, but they are highly entertaining as well and—in my opinion—on the mark. I think that she really "gets it."

Drawing from her work as a journalist, Chen gives us unsettling stories crystallized by the ferocious competition that engulfs everyone in the vast anonymous landscape that is contemporary China. The endless micro-struggles of small-town individuals to escape poverty or gain an educational foothold reveal their warped understanding of society and life. Mindless mishaps, fears, and even cruelty are everyday experiences of people struggling to survive and protect their families. The great hidden human costs of China's rise are simply mind-boggling.